- LONDON (Reuters) - Watch lots of television soaps if if you want to be
happy, and don't even think of having an affair. After spending 11 years
analysing thousands of questionnaires, Oxford Professor Michael Argyle
believes he has found out what makes people happy. Argyle told the Sunday
Telegraph newspaper that the key was to have one close relationship and
a network of friends. Marriage was one of the most important guarantees
of happiness, especially for men, and the least happy in society were those
who are divorced or separated, his research found. Extra-marital affairs
brought unhappiness because of the damage they did to the marriage. ``Having
two people who give you support and company could be a good thing. But
it rarely works out that way,'' the professor told the paper. He found
that only the very poor were ``less'' happy and that those on middle incomes
were just as happy as the very rich. ``Satisfaction and happiness do not
increase with income, unless you get paid more than you expected in the
light of your education and job,'' he said. Argyle found people were no
happier -- and no sadder -- than they were 50 years ago. But he was surprised
to find that TV soap addicts were a happy bunch. ``The results on television
watching have been most perplexing,'' Argyle said. ``People who watch soap
operas seem to gain a great deal of happiness from that. One theory is
that through doing it, they are making imaginary friends.'' ^REUTERS@
|
